VALINOR. -The home of the elves-
by Strenua
Summary: The elven prince Arshae is in danger when he is going to Grey Havens, but is warned by his friend Constantine and they must hide and find a safer way to the harbour. On their way they meet elves, men, hobbits, dwarves and other creatures. R/R or no more!!
1. Farewell.

THE KINGDOM OF VALINOR.  
  
-The home of the elves-  
  
All together strange it was to my eyes when I was standing in my boat, long lost with the waves I was.  
  
The green island that had stood like a field in front of my gaze was in one second gone as straw of grass swept away by the wind. Neither a light, nor a shadow was left from the beautiful land and never was it seen again.  
  
What could I say?  
  
Had my eyes betrayed me as the old man that I was? Or did I truly see this world of greens disappear there out on the water. No surely it sunk and it left no tray for it was not God's will that this isle was to exist. I had to row my boat back to where I came from before I went crazy.  
  
I tell you that never have the thought of this kingdom left my mind since that night out on the great sea. I later heard the land was called Atlantis, a mysterious place indeed and no one could remember a storm or a quake that could possibly have destroyed it and brought it to the bottom of the ocean.  
  
5 years earlier...  
  
Few elves there were who would not yet leave this mortal world to follow their kins to Valinor and many were the elves who from the Grey Havens departed for the immortal island out on the ocean.  
  
Never were they to return, but never were they to die.  
  
This is the story of Prince Arshae who was the last one in his family to leave the Grey Havens and sail to Valinor...  
  
It is morning many thousand years a go now and a very noble and wise, but young elf is saying goodbye to his friends. Four years a go was his 110th birthday, a significant age to an elf, but many years before that his family had gone to the Grey Havens. Back then he had chosen to stay and his family being such understanding people, blessed him and rode off, but now Arshae was packing a small bag of things to bring with him to Valinor, a land often sung about, but seldom seen.  
  
As he, Prince Arshae, was ready to departure, his faithful servant brought him the best horse in the country to take him fast to the harbour. Long had he wanted to reunite with his family and kins, but for long he had found other things to do in the mortal world.  
  
"Prince Arshae Sir" his servant, a mortal named Colstedt, said. "Are you to go and never return to us?"  
  
Arshae nodded and grabbed the reins of the lightbrown horse. "Yes I am Colstedt, it is off to Valinor"  
  
"Tell me sir" Colstedt continued. "Many times have I heard of this heaven like place, how do we get there who are mortal?"  
  
Arshae could not do anything but smile at his dear friend. "It can not be done my friend for only elves are allowed to enter this immortal realm"  
  
This painted a disappointed look upon Colstedt's face. "But sir, is that truly fair?" He asked.  
  
Arshae laid his hand on his servant's shoulder. "It is not for me to decide. It may or may not be fair, but I am saying farewell now and may the leaves of your life's tree never turn brown"  
  
Colstedt fell down on his knees before his master. "I am begging you prince Arshae, sir, take me with you, I shall dress as an elf and never speak to anyone about it"  
  
Arshae got Colstedt back on his feet. "I am sorry my dear friend" he uttered. "It can not be done"  
  
And before Colstedt could hinder him he was up on his horse ready to depart.  
  
"Sir, prince Arshae, you just can not leave me behind, God knows what will happen to me" Cols cried bitterly.  
  
"You will be just fine Colstedt and I am not the last of elves Many stories are left to be told about Valinor, the immortal world. I shall send a messenger on the hour of my arrival to the Grey Havens"  
  
Arshae promised and commanded his horse to ride off. "Fair winds!" he shouted before he disappeared through the opened gates.  
  
Colstedt caught a last glimpse of the elven prince's golden hair, but his heart was angry and his mind troubled. For him it was not fair that his friend could leave him behind to die and the elves would live for all eternity.  
  
"Fair winds I see" He muttered furiously and a plan took shape in his head.  
  
Now it was time for justice amongst men and elves, he thought and called for men he knew in the land to meet in a council where he would introduce his plan.  
  
"What is this foolishness you are speaking Colstedt?" A man, Constantine, asked after hearing what Colstedt had to say about the Grey Havens.  
  
"This is the chance to be part of the greatest treasure of all times" Colstedt explained. "Life! Many are the great men who have fallen in battle and many more will have to die for our lands"  
  
"Where is your point in this meaningless babble?" Constantine wondered. "Make it quick so I can leave"  
  
"Prince Arshae is riding to the Grey Havens where he will sail over to Valinor! We will gather men to find his road and follow him all the way to Valinor. We will take back what is rightfully ours"  
  
"This could never work" One of the other men, Maximillian, said. "Greatly do I desire to go, but the ship is guarded and we can not hide among the elves aboard"  
  
To answer Maximillian, Colstedt revealed a sword he had kept in his dark leather sheath.  
  
"There are few ways of killing an elf" he begun. "This is one, and we are all skilled swordsmen indeed. We will all bring swords as we go and use them if needed for this age is where men will finally get what they deserve"  
  
Eight of the nine gathered men stood up, put their swords together in a circle and agreed to battle the elves for Valinor, but Constantine remained seated.  
  
"I will not see this happen" he told the group. "The elves are good friends of mine and have given me no reason to kill them"  
  
"Then we will be nine men who will fight the deceivers" shouted Colstedt and all the men, except for Constantine left the room.  
  
There was no time to waste and Constantine had to save his friends and the life of the elves so he rode his horse in fast speed to find Prince Arshae.  
  
Day and night without stopping he passed through lands on Middlestar, his beloved horse and friend. 


	2. Warning.

The moon guided him by night and sun by day,  
  
but Middlestar showed no sign of weariness.  
  
On the third day Constantine reached the inn where he knew prince Arshae would stay for two days before he continued his journey with a friend.  
  
The "Night Shadow Inn" was a popular meeting place for elves, men, dwarves and hobbits with the best ale out of all the nearby countries.  
  
Constantine led Middlestar over to the guest stables where he spotted prince Arshae's horse Nemphis, a beautiful lightbrown horse with a silver-grey mane and tail.  
  
Middlestar was left in the stable between a white and a grey pony before Constantine entered the inn.  
  
The room was filled with laughter, loud discussions, smoke and sounds of the goblets and pints meeting each other in toasts. Luckily prince Arshae was never hard to find in a crowd of people, for he was either entertaining or being entertained. His laughter was like happy roars easily heard over the noise in the inn so Constantine made his way through men, elves, dwarves and other strange creatures.  
  
"Prince Arshae" he spoke when he saw the noble man in a chair by the wall.  
  
All eyes were turned in Constantine's direction, but with a gesture from the prince they all returned to their tables and continued their discussions and drinking.  
  
"Ah Constantine" Arshae smiled. "What brings you here my friend?"  
  
Constantine looked around the room, but too many ears were eager to listen and it was not safe to speak the matter in here.  
  
"Sir, I need to speak with you, in private" he told the prince.  
  
Arshae got out of his seat and slightly nodded towards the stairs.  
  
"Let us go to my room" he suggested.  
  
The room was proper, but not big.  
  
Enough it was for a bypasser though, and the bed was king-sized with handmade blankets and dunefilled pillows. A quite small table and two wooden chairs were placed in one corner of the room, where Arshae got seated.  
  
"Let me hear what your heart carries Mr. Constantine" He spoke and gestured him to come closer while putting a pipe to his lips.  
  
"I have come to warn you Prince Arshae. I was called to a secret council on the day of your departure Sir, and plans are made to follow you... and to kill you"  
  
Prince Arshae took the pipe out of his mouth and stared at the tall black-haired, young (97 years old) man in front of him.  
  
"Who are you speaking of?"  
  
"Nine men sir, among them is Colstedt and Master Maximillian"  
  
"I do not understand. Colstedt is my friend Constantine, these are serious accusations"  
  
Constantine took another step closer to Arshae.  
  
"Yes Sir, but I was there and they intend to kill you if they need to do so, and everyone who comes in their way"  
  
"Why?"  
  
"They want to find Valinor Sir, they call it justice for men"  
  
Prince Arshae got out of his chair and started to pace around the room with a troubled look upon his face.  
  
"I have to leave for the Grey Havens early tomorrow" He finally said. "But I will need to take a different road"  
  
Constantine went down on one knee. "I follow you Prince Arshae and with my sword I will protect you"  
  
Arshae put the pipe back in his mouth.  
  
"Rest now Constantine for I can see that you are tired"  
  
"There is one more thing Sir" Constantine said. "Colstedt have many friends on this side of the country. He may send messengers to gather a troop. We must be careful and trust nobody"  
  
"I see, thank you Constantine, now rest and I will wake you in the morning"  
  
Constantine bowed politely and left to get some sleep, but it was hard, for darkness crept in to his dreams and worried him.  
  
Before the sun had fully arisen the next morning, prince Arshae awaked Constantine.  
  
"There is breakfast for you on the table" He said and lay off his olive-green cloak on a chair.  
  
"I have sent messengers to many friends along the road to let them know we are coming"  
  
Constantine was quickly dressed and ate the breakfast containing dark bread, warm milk and some dried fruit.  
  
"My journey will be longer than expected and I will have to wait for the next ship I am afraid" Prince Arshae explained and picked up the cloak from the chair. "If I live to see water"  
  
Constantine nearly lost his breath. "But Sir, you can not mean what you are saying"  
  
Prince Arshae sat down on the opposite side of the table from his friend.  
  
"If there is something I have learnt from my so called friendship with Closeted it is that he is not a man to underestimate Constantine. He is older than me, older than us both together and has fought in many battles.  
  
Colstedt know how to get men on his side and how to make them believe that his words are wise"  
  
Constantine dried off breadcrumbs from his chin with the back of his hand and swallowed before he answered.  
  
"But when my friends are with us, we are five all together and with our strength, we can defeat them, can we not Sir?"  
  
Prince Arshae stood up and turned to the circled window behind the table.  
  
"They will be more than 10, more than 15 and surly more than 20 men all together" he spoke. "I can not tell you all I know, but long a go I was given a warning"  
  
Constantine stopped chewing on the new bread piece. Instead he tried to understand what his master was talking about. "A warning? Against what Sir?"  
  
Prince Arshae turned back to face Constantine. "I can not tell you, not now and not here"  
  
"I see Sir" was Constantine's answer. "I just hope I was not part of that warning"  
  
Arshae smiled weakly and fastened the cloak under his chin with a brooch in the shape of a blue flower and a white star in the middle. It was the symbol of his country and Constantine had one too, but his cloak was light-grey instead of Arshae's royal colour of olives.  
  
"We must go now"  
  
The two friends picked up their light baggage and left their rooms to begin a long journey. 


	3. Gonostar.

Grey clouds on the sky covered the sunrise, but Arshae and Constantine could not wait for the light to come.  
  
They led Nimphel (that's the right name, not Nemphis as I wrote before) and Middelstar out of the stable and over the blossoming meadows outside the town gates. Big old trees soon made an ally leading down to a broad and long river with calm water and decorated with beautiful pink and white waterlillies. "We can not cross" Constantine cried.  
  
"There is a ferry only three miles away, we will go over by that" Arshae replied. "We must follow the waterbrink"  
  
The horses lifted their heads proudly and galloped along the river. Fast like the wind they rode and made the leaves on the trees they passed, dance wildly.The sun was now raising in the east making the path easier to see, but Constantine was worried.  
  
Prince Arshae could feel his friend's worry (as elves often do) and turned to him.  
  
"You feel we should get off the road" he said calmly.  
  
Constantine nodded insecurily.  
  
"You're right" said Arshae. "I know a smaller path through the mountains, it will lead us to the other side of the river, but it takes much more time. We will not be in any city until the second day"  
  
Middlestar followed Nimphel up to the top of a grass hill where they stopped to see if the road further on was clear.  
  
"It is worse than I thought" Prince Arshae spoke and pointed down the valley where a large group of men (500 perhaps) had gathered.  
  
Only a third of them had horses, but all of them were richly armed with either swords or bows. Even if the group was on a great distance from Arshae and Constantine, they could still see who was leading the army. Colstedt...  
  
"How do we get to the mountains now Sir?"  
  
Prince Arshae backed his horse and rode right in to the forest where there was no road or path to follow.  
  
"There are always ways of getting to a mountain" he replied. "You are borned amongst elves in the mountains, you should know of these things"  
  
Constantine laughed a little and followed the prince in to the woods.  
  
"He will not get far" Colstedt grinned viciously. "I have put spies everywhere"  
  
Maximillian sat up on his horse. "He can be taking the ferry!" he said, but Colstedt held up a hand.  
  
"We will send men in all directions. Until we get any news, we must stay here" he replied and took a bite of a red apple.  
  
Maximillian gave order to the army and they were parted in five troops.  
  
One would stay with Colstedt and Maximillian while the others were sent in different directions.  
  
Less than two hours later one of the spies came riding up to Colstedt with a message.  
  
"They are going through the mountains" he explained. "They have seen your troops"  
  
Colstedt was confused and angry. "They? Is Arshae not alone?"  
  
"No sir, a man is with him, a mortal I hear"  
  
"We will send all our men to find them in the mountains" Colstedt ordered and it was done.  
  
"I feel I can ride no longer prince Arshae" said Constantine. "My back hurts and I am both hungry and thirsty Sir"  
  
Arshae slowed down and stopped. "That is very unthoughtful of me, I am sorry" He apologized.  
  
"We will rest over there" he said and pointed at a small opening in the mountain by the road.  
  
It was too small for any of them to pass through. "We can not come through there Sir" Constantine commented.  
  
But Arshae did not listen and led his horse to the hole where he begun to speak in elvish.  
  
A small light like a sunray shone upon the mountain wall above the hole and it grew larger.  
  
Soon it was as big as a cave entrance, but someone was there.  
  
An elv dressed in a grey tunica and trousers came out and Arshae greeted him on their own language then looked at Constantine. "This is my friend Felatura" he introduced the elf. "He will let us stay for lunch, if you wish"  
  
Constantine looked suspectingly at the elf. He had never seen anything like him before.  
  
His hazel brown hair was curly and reached halfway down his back. His clothes were sewed with golden threads and was here and there decorated with tiny green gemstones. They did not look like ordinary cave elves or mountain elves.  
  
His eyes were large and green contrasting to his pale skin and dark hair.  
  
"I shall accept the offer with great honour" Constantine answered and was let inside before the hole closed.  
  
It was not a dark cave and it was nothing like a dwarf home or a hiding place. The mountain had looked very small from the outside, but inside was built an elven city with handbuilt houses and gardens filled with plants of all kinds.  
  
Constantine's amazment could not be covered and it made Arshae laugh. "Why so surprised my friend?" he asked.  
  
"I have never seen anything like this before" he gasped and looked around.  
  
"Welcome to the city Gonostar"  
  
Everywhere he turned there were flowers, green grass, little lakes, beautiful houses in all shapes and sizes.  
  
Children were running around on a field laughing.  
  
"This reminds me of a place my grandfather told me about, but it was not inside a mountain"  
  
Arshae smiled. "They are certainly a spiece of their own, and not only elves lives here"  
  
They passed cottages, little houses, horses, dogs, cats, children, women, men and they were all certainly not elves. 


End file.
